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ANAM. 349
The dress of the poorer class is made of coarse cotton,
but this is not very common, coarse silks being more
in vogue. Those of China and Tongkin are worn by
the more opulent classes. Shoes also are worn only
by the wealthy, and are of Chinese manufacture ;
clogs, in fact, rather than shoes."*
The Tongkinese wear a long robe reaching to the
heels, tied with a girdle or sash. Persons of rank
have a robe of silk, and a cap of the same material.
The lower classes wear the large Cochin Chinese hat.
While subject to China, the Tongkinese were com-
pelled to tuck up their hair in token of sxibjection.
On recovering their independence, both sexes adopted
the custom of letting it hang over their shoulders ; a
practice which the close-shaven bonzes, however, discountenance
and ridicule.
Mr. Finlayson describes the Cochin Chinese as a
nation almost without any religion whatever : " at
all events, they derive no moral feeling from this
source." Yet, he elsewhere remarks, that " in every
house, and every building, whether public or private,
even in the slightest temporary sheds, is placed something
to remind you of religion, or, to speak more
accurately, of the superstitious disposition of the
people. And as the emblems of this nature have, for
the most part, a brilliant appearance, they produce a
striking effect." They have, however, neither reli-
gious instructors nor priests. In vain do we look
here for the rhahaans of Birmah, or the talapoins of
* The lower orders sometimes wear a jacket made of palmleaves
closely sewed together, having the appearance of a shaggy
skin ; a hat, between two and three feet in diameter, shaped like
& basket, comei down over the shoulders; and, thus protected,
they suffer little inconvenience from the rains.